Bud Lengtat
Level 1 (90 points)
Desktops

Q: g3 blueberry iMac slot loading drive issue

I have a Blueberry iMac with a slot loading CD drive that no longer works. The CD drive doesn't work; the iMac itself does. t haven't used it in a long time but recently hooked it up.

 

Some months back I bought a new MacBook and an external CD/DVD drive from Apple—a Superdrive. Since the slot loading drive on the old iMac doesn't work I figured I could use the external drive with it, but instead of sucking the CD in and reading it, it refuses to accept it.

 

Is there something simple I can do to get it to work?

iMac, iOS 9.2.1, Blueberry G3 400 MHz

Posted on May 7, 2016 3:34 PM

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Bud Lengtat

Q: g3 blueberry iMac slot loading drive issue

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  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe May 7, 2016 3:52 PM in response to Bud Lengtat
    Level 8 (38,166 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 7, 2016 3:52 PM in response to Bud Lengtat

    The external optical drive probably does not work because the old iMac only has USB 1.1 ports, which are really slow and may not provide enough power for modern USB devices.  Also, if the reason you need the optical drive is to start up from a Mac OS installation disc, that would be a problem with a PowerPC Mac.  PowerPC Macs typically cannot start up from USB, although they can start up from FireWire.

     

    What is the actual question?  What are you trying to do with the iMac?

  • by Bud Lengtat,

    Bud Lengtat Bud Lengtat May 7, 2016 5:39 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (90 points)
    Desktops
    May 7, 2016 5:39 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    I just want to run some old educational games for my grandchildren. The built-in CD drive does not work—discs go in but they don't come out without a paper clip trick that makes me queasy.

     

    So is there something I can do about the USB 1.1 port to make it work with the new drive? Or is there something I could do to make the USB drive work with the Firewire port?

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe May 7, 2016 5:58 PM in response to Bud Lengtat
    Level 8 (38,166 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 7, 2016 5:58 PM in response to Bud Lengtat

    So is there something I can do about the USB 1.1 port to make it work with the new drive? Or is there something I could do to make the USB drive work with the Firewire port?

    Probably NO to the first question.  Definitely NO to the second question.

     

    What Mac OS does the iMac run?  It says "iOS 9.2.1" in your profile info.  Does that mean your iMac is running Mac OS 9?

     

    What is your usual computer, the one you are using to post here?

  • by Bud Lengtat,

    Bud Lengtat Bud Lengtat May 7, 2016 6:52 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (90 points)
    Desktops
    May 7, 2016 6:52 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    Silly me. The iMac in question runs OS 9.2.2 to be exact, not iOS.

     

    The one I am using is the new MacBook that I bought early this year. I bought the drive at the same time.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe May 7, 2016 7:33 PM in response to Bud Lengtat
    Level 8 (38,166 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 7, 2016 7:33 PM in response to Bud Lengtat

    I'm thinking (maybe) you can create a disk image of the CD on your MacBook, put the disk image on a USB flash drive, and copy it to the old iMac's hard drive.  If the iMac can mount the disk image, it may be useable like a mounted CD (if the original CD does not use some type of copy protection).

     

    If you have a USB flash drive that is at least 1GB, see if it works on your iMac's USB port.  An older one is probably better in this case.  You'll probably need to reformat it on the iMac, if it's formatted for PC or on a recent Mac.  You use the Drive Setup utility in Mac OS 9.  Your MacBook should be able to read and write to it, if reformatted on the iMac.

     

    The problem is the disk image format, if the iMac runs Mac OS 9.  The current disk image format used by Disk Utility will not be readable (as a disk image) on the iMac if running Mac OS 9.  See if you have a USB flash drive that works on both your old iMac and MacBook.  If you do, I'll see if I can find method for creating a disk image that works in Mac OS 9.  Or someone else may pop by with a suggestion.

  • by Bud Lengtat,

    Bud Lengtat Bud Lengtat May 7, 2016 10:16 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (90 points)
    Desktops
    May 7, 2016 10:16 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    Thank you, but I tried this method many years ago with less than satisfying results. This is why I was excited to finally have an external drive that I thought would work. But alas I will quickly get over the disappointment and try to make the most of it.

     

    Thank you.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,Helpful

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe May 8, 2016 4:09 AM in response to Bud Lengtat
    Level 8 (38,166 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 8, 2016 4:09 AM in response to Bud Lengtat

    I used that method myself, and worked quite well, back when I was using Mac OS 9.  I had a favorite game (Alpha Centauri) and got tired of inserting the CD every time I played it.  So I created a disk image (using the Disk Copy utility) to see if I could mount the disk image of the CD instead of the actual CD, and it worked that way.  I never had to find the CD and use it again.  It did not work with some other games, because there was copy protection that required the original CD.  That's what I'm suggesting here, except you'd need to create the disk image on your MacBook that works with Mac OS 9 on the iMac, with a USB flash drive to transfer between the two.

     

    You might also look for used FireWire optical drives on eBay.  The larger type with full-sized tray-loading mechanism and its own power supply.  They used to be popular.  I used to have one made by LaCie.